"OK, now we're really screwed."
"Gee, y'think?" Rhythmi hissed in response to Keith's statement. Kate panicked at the thought of the two fighting at a time like this. "Both of you, please?" She interrupted before Keith could think of a comeback. "We have to figure out a plan before they find us!"
"But—" The two began to protest, but then Kate looked at them both with the desperate look in her eyes that Rhythmi found hard to refuse and Keith found just downright irresistible. "Fine," They growled simultaneously.
Kate sighed in relief. "Thank you." She said. "Now then, any ideas in the short time we have before they get here?"
"OK, OK, hang on, I've got it," Rhythmi said hurriedly as she reached into her small designer messenger bag for her laptop, she had managed to keep a hold of it despite being caught. After all, it was the latest in fashion technology. "What if I decide to let myself get caught? My Operator mini-laptop has a GPS chip in it that Ranger Stylers can automatically lock onto. Now that we're in the same building—boat—whatever—your Stylers should be able to track it." She hit a button on the bottom of the laptop. "I'll get caught, and then you guys can follow me freely without Dim Suns holding you."
"Are you insane?" Keith hissed. "If you get caught, then even if we follow you you'll be taking us straight to their leader and oh-my-Arceus-Rhythmi-you're-a-freaking-genius."
Rhythmi smiled haughtily in response. "Thank you," She said as she put her GPS-activated laptop back in her bag. "Now then, you guys hide!"
Kate nodded as she grabbed Keith's arm and ran off to hide behind the corner of a wall. Keith yelped at the sudden action, but quickly quieted down when he heard what Rhythmi did next.
"EEYAAAAHHH!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as she fell to the ground.
"Hey, I think I heard something over there!" A nearby person's voice resonated.
Immediately, a grunt came running around a corner, missing Kate and Keith in their hiding spot and going straight for Rhythmi instead. He carried the trademark laptop they had seen, and a Mime Jr. was trailing after him.
"Found you, hostage!" He said triumphantly as he put his hands on his shoulders.
"Mime mime-mime!" Mime Jr. chirruped, copying the grunt's gesture. "Why did you scream, by the way?" The grunt questioned curiously.
Rhythmi scowled up at him. "I fell," She spat bluntly. "And you shouldn't be controlling that poor Pokémon!"
The grunt gulped and sweatdropped. "U-uhm, yeah. About the screaming part, not the Pokémon. Anyways, time to t-take you to the l-leader…"
"Whatever." Rhythmi scoffed. Keith narrowed his eyes irritably at the way Rhythmi could manage to be a brat even when she was being faux-captured. Totally different from the sweet, shy, and completely not bratty Kate.
After Rhythmi and her unwitting captor had turned the corner out of sight, Keith quickly flipped his Styler screen on and moved to GPS mode. He located Rhythmi's laptop signal almost immediately, seeing as it was hard to miss her laptop's current username: 'KatexKeith367LOVE'. Yeah, he was going to need to have a serious talk with her later.
Kate looked at him. "Found the signal?" She whispered. "Yeah," Keith murmured in response. It was then that the brunette noticed the username.
"…Why is it…?" She trailed off as she bit her lip and her face went red.
"I don't know." Keith lied quickly. "And I don't want to know. So let's just follow the damn signal."
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
"OK, the GPS said she went this way."
"Got it," Kate nodded as she and Keith sped down another hallway. It was hard touring the boat in their hunt for the leader, as they had to make sure they stayed far enough behind Rhythmi that they weren't spotted, but not too behind so that they lost the signal altogether. On top of that, all the grunts on the ship were still searching for the two remaining Rangers; i.e. THEM.
The two dodged another group of goons and stood in front of the next door where Rhythmi had gone through. "Alright," Keith muttered. "We have no way of knowing what's behind this door, so be on your guard, OK?"
"I'm ready for anything," Kate reassured. Keith grinned. "That's my girl," he muttered, and with that he opened the door and they walked in.
Inside, there were Spinarak. And this wasn't just three or four Spinarak. There were teeny-tiny Spider Pokémon everywhere. They scuttled around the floor, climbed the crates, and snipped their tiny bug-fangs at the two Rangers. Keith shrugged at the sight, not feeling particularly threatened by them all.
Kate wasn't ready for it.
"EEYAAAHHH!" She screamed exactly as Rhythmi had done not thirty minutes ago—except this one sounded much more real. She immediately threw her arms around Keith's neck in terror.
"Wha—!" he gasped, his features turning red due to the closeness. "What's wrong?"
"Spiders!" Kate screamed. "Spiders!"
Keith blinked in shock. "Wha—don't tell me you're afraid of spiders!" he yelled. "OK, what's the life story behind this? You're afraid of Sharpedo because you were attacked by one. What's the reason for this?"
"No reason," Kate trembled. "I—just—hate—spiders."
"Oh, come on." Keith groaned exasperatedly.
"Is there a reason you're afraid of ghosts?" Kate snapped in reference to the initiation ceremony back in Ranger School. Keith's face went even redder at this (if that was possible) and he promptly shut up.
"Whatever," He grumbled. "Just close your eyes and I'll lead you to the next door. It's not that far off. Hold onto my hand, OK?"
Kate moved her arms from around Keith's neck so that they were clinging to his right arm instead (this Keith was half-thankful for, as he was left-handed and needed his dominant hand to use his Styler). She squeezed her eyes shut.
Keith felt the red feeling in his face spread to his ears and neck as well. "I said hold my hand. Not strangle my arm," He muttered, but he began to lead Kate through the Spinarak anyway. The Pokémon chased the two occasionally, but after some running for their lives, a few "CAPTURE ON"s, and endless screaming from Kate, Keith managed to destroy the Gigaremo in the room and the Spider Pokémon scuttled off, now afraid of the two humans. Lyrical and Tempo helped, of course, attacking any Spinarak who got too close.
Once they were out of the room, Keith tried to calm Kate down enough to realize they were in the clear, but to no avail, she was still shaking violently from the whole situation and it seemed as if it would take awhile for her to calm down.
"Come on, Kate," Keith groaned, "The Spinarak are gone!" She still didn't seem to hear him through her terror.
Keith glared down at the top of her head, as her face was buried in his arm. "Jeez, why are you being so—" He cut himself off, though, as it slowly occurred to him that Kate was clinging onto his arm incessantly with her head partly buried in his chest. Keith felt his face burn up quickly.
"K-Kate—" he tried again, but Kate cut him off.
"Let me stay like this a few more seconds, OK?" She said shakily. "Just a few more seconds."
Keith didn't agree, but he didn't object either. He just leaned back against the wall with her still hanging onto him.
After about twenty seconds, Kate's breathing hitched slightly as she moved away from him. She opened her eyes slowly, and then blinked a few times in surprise as the light returned to her pale blue irises. Her face went slightly pink in embarrassment, a fact that Keith missed despite the obviousness of the color against her pale skin.
"Sorry about that!" She apologized quickly. "I mean, that is, there were a lot of Spinarak and I don't like spider Pokémon that much, I mean, I don't have a problem with other Bug Types, but Spinarak and Ariados just creep me out, and, and, that is, I mean—"
Keith stared at her, but then snickered and interrupted her by cuffing the girl lightly over the head. "You're funny," He laughed.
Kate shrugged. "Mmm," She mumbled in response. Then she shuddered. "So… many… legs." She shivered, biting her lip. Keith smiled and sweatdropped before jumping in alarm.
"Oh, yeah! What about Rhyth?" He said hastily, flipping open his Styler. He saw that the GPS signal wasn't all that far off, but they would have to run to keep it in their sights.
The two sped off after the GPS signal, and eventually they saw that it was directly above them.
"What… the hell?" Keith muttered, looking around in wonder. "Where'd they go?"
"Oh, over there!" Kate exclaimed, pointing up at a trapdoor in the ceiling. "They must've gone up a floor.
Keith grinned. "Alright then…!" He grunted. He then jumped up and grabbed the handle of the door. It swung down, but in the process Keith somehow managed to whack himself in the head with it.
Kate, Lyrical and Tempo stared in disbelief at the redhead teenager who was now on the ground with a large head bump.
'Hitting yourself in the head with a trapdoor? Smooth, Keith.' Tempo laughed. 'Even better, it was in front of Kate!'
"Shut up, Tempo…" Keith snarled as he tried to think past the ringing in his ears.
Kate was, of course, very worried. Lyrical, who was on her shoulder, sighed, 'Don't get too worried about him, Kate. His skull is too thick to effectively injure anyways.'
"Lyrical!" Kate scolded quietly. "That may be true, but—"
"What are you going on about?" Keith inquired irritably as he stood up shakily. Kate jumped. "N—nothing!"
Keith raised an eyebrow suspiciously, but then sighed and looked up at the hole in the ceiling with Kate.
"How are we going to get through there?" Kate asked. Keith shrugged. "Dunno… Hey, wait! There's a ladder up there too!" He shouted in triumph, spotting the ladder which was bolted parallel to the ceiling. "Hang on, I got it!"
He unbolted one side of the ladder, only to find it swinging down onto his head.
Kate looked down at the crumpled figure in front of her, "Are… are you… I—I mean, that is—" She started, but Keith cut her off.
"Just… just shut up. Please. Please?" Keith muttered into the floor.
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
After Kate got the ladder down without hitting her head (considering the fact that she was slightly more competent than her redheaded partner), the two had climbed up to see Rhythmi arguing heatedly to a man they couldn't see, for Rhythmi was blocking their view.
Kate stayed halfway under the floor and watched the two figures warily. "OK," She murmured, "Just watch for an opening and when I say so—"
But then she suddenly blinked a few times, and then she sighed, "He's already gone, isn't he?"
'Yup,' Lyric grumbled.
And so he was. Keith was standing about ten feet away from Rhythmi and her sinister companion. "HEY!" He shouted. "As a Vientown Pokémon Ranger, I demand that you release all the Pokémon on this boat and give yourselves up!"
"KEITH!" Kate screamed as she ran out. "Stop! Arceus, you always do this! How many times do I have to tell you, first you listen long enough to get a legitimate name and then you carefully confront the suspect and—"
"You don't need to go to any trouble, Lovett," The man behind Rhythmi said. "After all, you already know my name."
"How do you know my—?" Kate started as she whipped her head around to see the figure behind Rhythmi, but then she stopped as something sunk in. She knew that voice. It was—
"Rhythmi," Kate said carefully, "move out of the way."
Rhythmi moved, and Kate caught a light scent of artificial strawberry as she saw a figure that had haunted her thoughts every minute she had run through the halls back in Ranger School.
"Hello Lovett, Evans," smiled Mr. Kincaid. "What a pleasure to see you again."
Kate and Keith gaped at their former teacher (or, as Keith had called him, 'evil overlord'). Then the redheaded Ranger turned slowly to Rhythmi.
"Why didn't you," He started out hoarsely, but then his voice rose with every word, "tell us he was THEIR LEADER?"
"I tried," Rhythmi retorted hotly, "but something always got in the way!"
"Yes, yes, distractions, distractions, blahbiddy-blahbiddy-blah." Kincaid sighed, waving a hand in exasperation. "Either way, you two students have been very, very naughty. Poking around in places you shouldn't have been poking in under any circumstances, destroying the Gigaremos we've had planted around Almia, going looking for your little friend, in other words, Rhythmi, sneaking onto the boat, and the entire time you were running. Through. The. Halls."
"We're not students anymore, we're Rangers," Keith protested, "so quit treating us like kids! We're all thirteen years old already!"
"…A-actually, I'm—" Kate started, but Keith just waved her off and added, "Well, Kate's turning thirteen in three weeks, but same difference!"
"Let's get one thing straight," Kincaid sneered. "You're all just teenagers. I'm a powerful, twenty-seven year-old adult. What's more is that I have an entire ship of obedient grunts at my disposal. So I think it's safe to say that your journey—" He smirked more and pulled out the usual small laptop, "—ends here."
Kincaid hit a few buttons on the laptop and a Drapion emerged behind him from the door that led to the captain's hull.
Keith gaped for a few seconds, but then screamed, "WHO KEEPS A FREAKING DRAPION IN THE HULL OF THEIR SHIP?"
At that moment, however, four Dim Sun grunts emerged from the side doors and lined up behind the group, all with laptops and Rhyhorn.
Keith was quick to react. "You take the Rhyhorn. I got Kincaid!" He stated determinedly.
"What?" Kate panicked. "But Kei—"
"Don't worry! I'll be fine." Keith grinned, giving a thumbs-up sign. "Just stall the goons for me, OK?"
Kate stared at him with wide, worried eyes for a few more seconds, but finally she nodded. "…OK," She said. "But be careful, got it?"
"Aren't I always?" Keith smirked sarcastically. Then he turned and took out his Styler and ran towards Kincaid and the Drapion.
Kate allowed herself a small smile before taking out her own Styler and turning towards the Rhyhorn. They were easy enough, but then three Stunky were sent out against her.
The goons panicked after she captured all the Pokémon they sent out against her. They screamed a lot, and Kate caught something about being sorry towards Kincaid and some other random Dim Sun tidbits. After that they all jumped off the boat and into the ocean in some suicidal manner that almost seemed comical.
Kate gaped after the entire group that had just flung themselves into the Puel Sea. "I hope they're OK…" She muttered nervously, but was quickly torn away from those thoughts when she heard another sound, this one all too familiar. It was the sound she'd heard when he'd fallen down the stairs for the hundredth time, the sound when he was faced with another of Luana's toaster fires, the sound when he caught the girls paging through his notebook, and, curiously enough, the sound when she hugged him or got just the tiniest bit too close to him.
"AGH!"
"Keith!" Kate screamed as she whipped around to see the redhead tumbling down the stairs and finally sprawling at the bottom. Kincaid and Drapion were grinning evilly at the top.
Kate ran for him and finally knelt down where Keith was lying. Tempo was equally beaten up next to him. "Oh, Arceus, you idiot!" Kate screamed as she helped him sit up.
"Don't be so harsh, I can still—" Keith started, but then it occurred to him that his Styler was smoking. He scowled. "Dammit… looks like I screwed up yet again, huh?"
Kate simply choked on the hundreds of things she wanted to say at the moment as they all built up in her throat. Finally she settled for, "Why do you always… always…" She gasped through the tears that were building up in her eyes.
Keith panicked. "No, please, don't cry, OK?" He said hurriedly. "I'm fine! I really truly am fine! I just got a little banged up, that's all!"
Finally he relaxed a little and said something a bit more rational. "…Look," He muttered, "At this time, I'd usually insist that you give me your Styler so I can give it another shot, but we all know that's not only illegal but just a bad idea all around. So you've gotta take on that Drapion, OK? If anyone can do it, you can."
Kate looked at the Drapion, then back at Keith and shook her head as the tears kept flowing. "No," She cried, "I can't just leave you on the floor like this. Besides, I'm not brave enough. I'm nowhere near as brave as you are."
Silence. Then,
"ARE YOU COMPLETELY INSANE?" He shouted at the top of his lungs, grabbing Kate's shoulders and forcing her eyes to look into his. Kincaid and Drapion were simply smirking on this scene, convinced that they'd won, and Rhythmi was smirking too, but certainly not for the same reasons.
"K-Keith, what are you—" Kate started, but Keith cut her off.
"Don't you ever say you're less brave than anyone you know ever again." He growled. "Especially not me. Not the guy that's afraid of ghosts and didn't realize until less than twenty-four hours ago that he was in—"
He cut himself off though, and started again. "Never mind. That's not the issue here. You've just gotta get up there and capture that Pokémon, because I sure as hell won't be able to with my Styler. Look at me." He muttered, putting a hand on her chin and jerking her face parallel to his when she tried to turn it away. "You are the bravest person I know, you got that? If anyone can do this, it's you. If you can't, I swear to Arceus that I'll throw myself off the boat after those Dim Sun freaks." A pause as he studied Kate's expression, then, "Oh, don't look at me like that, it was an expression, damn it. Now go."
Kate stared at him for a second longer as she blinked, shocked by what he'd just told her, but then she nodded shakily. "…OK." She exhaled slowly.
She stood up and climbed the stairs slowly. Then she stood face to face with a smirking Kincaid.
"You kidnapped all these Pokémon. You kidnapped Rhythmi. You hurt Keith. And for that," She said slowly as she glared at him, "You are seriously screwed.
"CAPTURE ON!"
The Capture Disc shot out of the Styler as it whipped towards Drapion. Kincaid typed in random commands as the Drapion attacked viciously in accordance with the codes.
Kate scowled as she quickened her tempo, and soon she found a lyrical rhythm that was almost like a metronome in itself. She would circle rapidly once she found an opening when the Drapion got tired, then pull back and hesitate before going back for more before the friendship bar shown on the Styler's screen. Finally, the bar was filled and she stopped altogether.
The Drapion blinked in shock a few times, but then looked around itself in confusion. After a few seconds, it stomped down the stairs and into a side door where it most likely caused mass chaos inside the boat. Simultaneously, Kincaid's laptop spontaneously combusted.
"Damn you kids!" He hissed irritably.
"Yeah, say what you want," Kate scowled. "But I'm just curious about one thing. Why were you a teacher at Ranger School?"
Kincaid studied Kate in interest, as if taking in a specimen he was about to dissect. Finally he answered. "I was waiting."
"For what?" demanded Rhythmi.
"For a genius. I was waiting for a bright child I'd heard of in newspapers that was a genius. And not just any genius. The kind that comes around once in a century. Once I found him when he entered school, I befriended him, and took him under my wing, hoping he'd do great things. And he did," Kincaid smirked, "Oh, he did. He was the boy that designed the Gigaremo and the much more convenient Miniremo, you know. So helpful, he was. I'm sure he has much more to show us."
"Show them, you mean," Keith growled. "Because we're talking you down, Kincaid."
Kincaid frowned at the boy. "Out of all the students I ever had in my short time as a teacher, Evans, you were by far the most troublesome. But no matter. The plan's been a failure, so I might as well abort comfortably for now." He picked up a walkie talkie and pressed a button.
"Hello, Rob? Is that you, Rob? Tell the grunts stationed by sector B1 to pull the Kingston Valve. And make it snappy, if you don't mind. Thank you."
Kate, Keith and Rhythmi gaped at each other in shock. Then Rhythmi yelled, "ARE YOU CRAZY? Pulling that will cause this ship to sink like a stone!"
Kincaid sneered as he dropped the walkie talkie. "Precisely. I have to dispose of evidence, don't I? Getting rid of a few Rangers won't be so bad either."
"Well, what about you?" Kate shouted in anger. Kincaid grinned more. "I'm sure you won't have to worry about little old me. Gliscor!"
He raised a hand, and a large purple Gliscor descended down upon him. Kincaid smiled evilly as he grabbed the bat Pokémon's tail.
"I think I'll be just fine," He said.
Then he was gone.
The three gaped after him as he flew off into the distance. Then Keith yelled, "DAMMIT!" as they all ran into the hull.
Once inside, Rhythmi immediately took over the controls.
"Coordinates are 18 north, 81 west," She read off the screen as she took the wheel. "We're taking on water fast! Kate, Keith, Lyric, Tempo, can any of you guys find a radio?"
"Here's one!" Kate exclaimed, and Rhythmi ran over, turned a few dials and then took the speaker.
"Hello? Who is this? Never thought we'd ever get a signal on the old boat radio…" A familiar voice resounded from the radio.
"Crawford! Crawford, is that you? It's us!" Rhythmi said frantically.
"Blondie? Is that you?" Crawford laughed. "When will you, Spiky and Flame be getting back? We missed you! Thank Arceus you guys are OK!"
"Uh, yeah, I wouldn't exactly say that!" Kate called into the speaker, and then Rhythmi related all that was happening.
"WHAT?" yelled Crawford. "You're on a Dim Sun boat, old Kincaid is a leader of those creeps, and you're taking on water?"
"No, we're on the rollercoaster of sunshine, Kincaid's won the Nobel Prize, and everything's just fine and dandy so we just decided to call in!" Keith yelled in exasperation. He had taken over the wheel and was trying to find somewhere to land.
"WORST JOKE EVER, MAN!" wailed Crawford. "OK, OK, hang on—ohhh, why did the boss have to be on patrol now? First things first, you guys need to patch up where the water's coming in!"
Kate gasped. "The Kingston Valve!" She screamed. "We just need to catch a Machoke and put it back in its place!"
"Alright!" Keith grinned, "Then I'll just go and—Kate! What are you doing? Stay here with Rhyth, it's too dangerous!"
"NO WAY!" Kate shouted. "I'm going with you whether you like it or not! If you get caught, or you fall in the water, or a Pokémon goes berserk on you, who's going to save your sorry behind? Besides, your Styler's broken!"
"Then lend me yours!"
"THAT'S ILLEGAL!"
"Ugh, whatever!" Keith groaned. "Rhyth, take the wheel! We'll be back in a minute!"
Rhythmi took the wheel and kept talking to Crawford on what to do next. Kate and Keith ran out the door, down the stairs, and into the main body of the ship.
Inside, it was mass chaos. Dim Sun goons were running around in a panic, Pokémon, being considerably smarter than the grunts, were making their way to the deck of the ship, and through all of this Kate and Keith were headed against the sea of fleers, making their way to the Kingston Valve. In the back of her head, Kate hoped Galileo and Matilda were OK, but then she was reassured when she saw them out of the corner of their eye, making their way confidently with the Pokémon to the deck.
Once they were in the main room where the valve was, Kate found a panicked Machoke and captured it quickly. "Machoke, use all your strength and put that valve back in its place!" She commanded.
The Machoke did as it was told, and within seconds the valve had been thrown back into its place. Kate and Keith sighed in relief as the boat stopped sinking, and at that moment none other than Rhythmi's voice rang out.
"Hello, this is your captain speaking," She said happily. "All Pokémon should proceed to the main hull and stay there until we dock. All Dim Sun goons should proceed to the lifeboats and get the hell out of here. Thank you. We hope you enjoyed your near-death experience."
"LIKE HELLWE DID!" Keith yelled angrily at the intercom. Kate laughed in response.
Suddenly, however, the boat took a sharp turn to the left. "W-whoa!" Kate exclaimed as she slipped. "Kate!" Keith yelled as he grabbed her arm, but that only succeeded in causing him to fall with her. They both plummeted to the water below that covered the floor. Once they had managed to climb onto a nearby crate, both of them soaking wet, they realized that the boat wasn't moving anymore.
"Did Rhythmi…" Kate murmured, but Keith finished the thought for her as he made his way to the nearest door and opened it.
Outside, the two saw that Rhythmi had docked the boat on a nearby beach with a small wooden dock for small boats—except that this hadn't been a small boat, and Rhythmi had rammed the boat straight into the poor wooden spit rather than properly docking it. Still, she had to be given props for managing the emergency stop right in the heat of the moment.
Rhythmi ran out of the boat from a different entrance with all the Pokémon just as Kate and Keith exited. Curiously enough, the Mime Jr. from earlier was on her shoulder. "Are you guys OK? I didn't kill anyone, did I?" She asked frantically. "Mime-mime! Mime mime-mime-mime mime-mime mime?" Mime Jr. mocked.
"No, we're good!" Kate smiled reassuringly. "That was genius, Rhyth!" Keith roared in approval. Rhythmi grinned in response. "I know." She said, and Mime Jr. copied. "Mime-mime."
"HEEEYY!" A familiar voice yelled from nearby. "ARE YOU KIDS ALRIGHT?"
The three turned to see none other than Barlow, Luana, Elaine, Crawford, Ollie, Miss April, Mr. Lamont and, surprisingly, Chairperson Erma running towards them.
"Barlow!" Kate exclaimed in joy. "Yeah, we're cool!" Keith grinned as he gave a thumbs-up.
When the group had reached the three, Mr. Lamont looked rather flustered. "Well, I suppose it's good that both you and none of the Pokémon are hurt, even if the school dock is ruined." He said.
"What?" The three asked, but when they looked around them they saw that they had crash-landed in Ascension Square. "…Oh," They laughed nervously.
Then Chairperson Erma spoke up. "You three," She said slowly. "You three have broken—no, downright shattered nearly every rule in the Union guidebook. First there was you two Rangers going against protocol and chasing after your friend and then you, Miss Song, you activated your Operator GPS signal without notifying a higher rank. On top of all that, you crashed a boat into an educational institution! Which is why," She stopped for a breath. "Which is why…"
The three waited for their inevitable punishment.
"…Which is why we are promoting you."
The three sighed sadly, but then the force of her statement hit them and their heads snapped up. "What?" They asked together.
Erma smiled. "While you did break the rules, you also saved countless Pokémon and foiled a major enemy's plan. I believe this deserves top honors. We need you three in the Union. So," She smiled more, "congratulations, Top Rangers Kate Lovett and Keith Evans, and Top Operator Rhythmi Song."
The three blinked in shock as they stared dumbly.
"WHAAAAT?"
